Berlin, April 25: A German doctor said on Friday that surgeons have successfully removed a 40-pound (18 kilogram) malignant bone tumour from a Saudi Arabian woman.
Dr Heinz Zurbruegg, a surgeon at the private Capital Health clinic in Berlin, said the 35-year-old had only a few weeks to live when she arrived in Germany for care in September.
But he said that after five operations by the surgeons, no traces remain of the bone tumour that once ballooned from her pelvis and represented a third of her body weight.
He said she is now well enough to return home and that if follow-up exams continue to show no sign of any tumour, the next steps will be to reconstruct the partially removed pelvis and give her an artificial hip.
The woman, who spoke on the condition that her identity not be disclosed, said she travelled to Germany after doctors in Riyadh said they would have to amputate her leg to remove the bone tumour.
She said the tumour had kept her bedridden for five years, but she now can walk with crutches. She also said her husband and three young daughters are delighted by the doctors' success.
Bureau Report
First Published: Saturday, April 25, 2009, 00:00